[EAS] concerning the request for new weather Event Codes

[Barry Mishkind]

SANITY ALERT!!!

At 01:13 PM 6/22/2016, Dave Kline wrote:
>limiting NWS to one alert every couple of hours, is not the best answer either.
>We just end up doing what we have complained about the FCC doing to us.
>That is to make us all work within a "one size fits all" EAS template.

        Everything the FCC has done with the EAS is
        run by the "one size fits all" template. That 
        is why the current NPRM is so dangerous
        to the continued viability of a system where
        the tech folks increasingly are pressured
        by management to dis-engage.

        The NWS was quoted by someone earlier
        of complaining that broadcasters just
        "don't get it" with the wide area alerts,
        when their polygons are so much better.

        Clearly, NWS has *never* spoken with
        anyone from NYC.  Do they even have
        an office there?

        The attitude from the NWS that met with
        us in Las Vegas was quite different.  They,
        at least, understood what "broadcast" means.
        While I have not heard a single "peep" since
        that they have had anything to bring back
        to those of us who took the time to talk to
        them, it is possible there are a few "friends"
        of broadcasting out there in NWS-land. The
        person interviewed is clearly in LALALand.

>I think the real disconnect happens because broadcasters and NWS have different missions.

        Ouch, TWO slices of common sense in one post?
        I'm not sure I can handle that.....

>Some of the alerting gap can be bridged by having an active local EAS plan.

        IF I were actively supporting a station where
        politics was not as stultifying as in Congress,
        I'd encourage some be "on duty" to receive
        NWS messages and relay them on air, even
        if via cell phone. Frankly, in many areas, that
        would be better quality than many EAS/Amber
        messages.

>We crafted a plan and made a list of recommended alerts that we would hope stations would carry.

>It is amazing how much easier it is to talk with other stations or with the local EM or NWS when you have a local plan that covers common issues and goals.

        Planning?  Oh my ... how could this
        ever be part of EAS? Dave, this might be the
        smartest post all month.